Syria Live Blog

Seven people have died in Homs after they inhaled a "poisonous gas" used by government forces in a rebel-held neighbourhood, activists said.

Activists also told Al Jazeera on Sunday night that scores of others were affected in al-Bayyada neighbourhood. Side effects reported include nausea, relaxed muscles, blurred vision, and breathing difficulties.

Residents said they did not know the nature of the gas used.

"The situation is very difficult. We do not have enough facemasks. We don't know what this gas is but medics are saying it's something similar to Sarin gas," Raji Rahmet Rabbou, an activist in Homs, told Al Jazeera.

A doctor treating patients subsequently said the gas seemed to be a concentrated form of tear gas that has not been used in Homs before. Inhaling large amounts can lead to suffocation and death, he said.

The gas appears to have been used during a battle with rebel fighters.

Obviously, it don't sound good. Hopefully it was an isolated incident. Looks like our Army is in process of sending a number of units to various African countries. Things could really heat up fast. I for one don't want to hear about US forces having to go into Syria, as been suggested by this administration.

I watched it. Trouble with a lot of those vids coming out of those lands is half the time you don't if it is staged or not. Guess we shall see if this story is true or no as it is found in the L/MSM. I'll be on and off the boards today. In case I don't connect with you a bit latter, Merry Christmas Ernie, HIS best to you and yours.

Arab media and opposition activists reported Monday that Bashar Assad's regime has used chemical weapons for the first time since fighting began in Syria.

According to an Al-Jazeera report, activists in the Al-Bayada neighborhood in Homs, which is under rebel control, claimed they have been targeted with gas by government forces. The opposition said in a separate statement that jet fighters dropped bombs containing 'poisonous material' on Homs.

According to the reports, six or seven people were killed in the attack and dozens wounded. A video posted by Al-Jazeera shows a man being treated with a respirator after allegedly being wounded by nerve gas.

Residents reported those wounded suffered from nausea, delirium and breathing difficulties, but said they do not know what type of gas was used. The opposition also claimed that four people were left blind and four other paralyzed. "The situation is very bad," one of the rebels told Al-Jazeera. "We don't have enough gas masks, we do not know what gas this is, but doctors say it resembles sarin."

In the past few weeks, the U.S. and other Western countries have claimed that intelligence reports appear to show Assad's regime moving chemical weapons and preparing them for use as the regime gradually loses control over the country. The West has warned Assad that use of chemical weapons would constitute a "red line" and would have international ramifications. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned of U.S. action in such a scenario.

Last week, Russia's foreign minister said the Syrian government has consolidated its chemical weapons in one or two locations amid a rebel onslaught.

Sergey Lavrov says Russia, which has military advisers training Syria's military, has kept close watch over its chemical arsenal. He said the Syrian government has moved them from many arsenals to just "one or two centers" to properly safeguard them.

Read the article. We don't know who used the gas. I wouldn't be surprised if some one other then official Syrian forces tried to pull off something cute to escalate conditions to the "red line". The Russians should be held accountable for keeping the crap in safe storage. Let them use their troops to go into towns and villages and fight.

What better way to get outside intervention than stage a Chemical gas attach by the Gov. Al Qaeda gets the USA to do their dirty work, take out Assad, while they take over the country. Could be wrong, maybe not.

Son of a b. Looks like things are being lined up for another total mess to ratchet up. Putin is going to have to make some hard choices. Should the ruskkie get involved in fighting the US and NATO at this point. Perhaps things are being set up to force their hand to do something about the stock piles with their own forces. I would hate to have to be in a betting game at this point. Merry Christmas.

If the timeline of news reports reflects reality, then the rebels first used a yellow gas on Syrian troops and killed about 7-8 of them. At that point, Assad and the Russians realized that even reporting that fact could justify either Western Invasion or Israeli attacks on the WMD stores.

So the Russians and Chinese decided to report that Assad has full control of all his WMD. In other words, it was not Assad's WMD's used in the attack on Syrian troops. When the Israeli's read this, they concur with the Rus/Chicoms, for some undetermined reason. Any ideas why ?

So then we get word that the Syrian counter attack at Homs used a concentrated tear gas, borderline WMD. So the Syrians are dishing up some payback with borderline WMD material.

RE: "Perhaps someone pulled Emperor Zero out of the water long enough for him to deny reality once again." Now that is quite a clever way of describing the commie muslim. :) I'll check out the two URL links.

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